College Football Nation: Wisconsin an anomaly in today’s game

Eric Avidon

Wednesday

Nov 24, 2010 at 12:01 AMNov 24, 2010 at 9:41 PM

Nothing in football is more impressive than the imposition of will, and nothing epitomizes the imposition of will more than running the ball down the throat of the opposition when the opposition knows exactly what’s coming.

Nothing in football is more impressive than the imposition of will, and nothing epitomizes the imposition of will more than running the ball down the throat of the opposition when the opposition knows exactly what’s coming.

This is an era when top teams often attack through the air, and when they do take to the ground, it’s with misdirection.

There’s nothing powerful about it.

Then there’s Wisconsin.

The Badgers are essentially the same team they were a little less than two decades ago when Barry Alvarez arrived in Madison and revived a program that was dead, having won a total of four games the three previous years. They won under Alvarez by running, offensive linemen slamming into defensive linemen and running backs rumbling up the middle for chunks of yardage - from Brent Moss and Terrell Fletcher to Ron Dayne and then Anthony Davis.

It’s how they made the Rose Bowl in 1994 for the first time since the early 1960s, then made it two more times in 1998 and 1999 - winning all three. It’s an offensive mindset that’s a relic of a bygone era, a scheme that harkens back to the Big Ten’s past. It’s three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust played in an age of aerial assaults, one that easily could have been executed under Bo Schembechler or Woody Hayes.

And yet it’s how the Badgers are on the brink of reaching the Rose Bowl again this year, now with Alvarez’s protégé Bret Bielema as the head coach and John Clay the bruising back.

“You got to be able to recruit the talent, first off, that fits your program, and then be a steady believer in the things that make us successful,” Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “We haven’t flinched an inch from the first day I took over to where we are today, philosophy-wise.”

Wisconsin, ranked seventh in the current BCS Standings, sits in a three-way tie atop the Big Ten alongside Ohio State and Michigan State. All are 6-1 in the conference, and 10-1 overall.

The Badgers host Northwestern on Saturday at 3:30, while the Buckeyes host Michigan at noon and the Spartans are at Penn State, also at noon. If all three win - as they should - the team with the highest BCS ranking will go to Pasadena, and that’s likely Wisconsin.

But no matter what happens regarding the Big Ten race, Wisconsin is a fascinating anomaly in today’s game.

The Badgers aren’t the only team to favor a run-oriented attack, but they are one of the few to do it the old-fashioned way. They rank 12th nationally in rushing yardage, yet each of the 11 above them run an offense that’s about elusiveness and misdirection. There’s the spread option run by most - Auburn and Oregon among them - and the triple option, which resembles the wishbone, favored by teams like Georgia Tech and Navy.

None of them go straight ahead, try and win with brute force.

The Badgers blasted Michigan on the ground last week. They ran on 58 of 73 offensive plays - and all but one in the second half - and gained 357 rushing yards. Montee Ball and James White each ran for well over 100 yards, while Clay, the Big Ten’s offensive player of the year in 2009, sat out with a leg injury. The week before, in a shocking 83-20 win over Indiana, there were 47 runs for 338 yards, also with Ball and White going for far more than 100 yards apiece and Clay watching from the sidelines.

With Northwestern ranked 82nd in rushing defense, it’s reasonable to envision Wisconsin going for another 300 or so yards on the ground.

If there is a difference between this year’s Badgers and the versions that won three Rose Bowls under Alvarez, it’s that Wisconsin possesses more speed than in the past and can throw the ball more effectively. They don’t try to win through the air, but quarterback Scott Tolzien is the seventh-rated passer in the country and wideouts Nick Toon and David Gilreath are weapons.

With Oregon seemingly headed for the BCS Championship, the Rose Bowl is obligated to take the non-automatic qualifier with the highest BCS ranking as a replacement. Right now that’s TCU, but the Broncos should surpass the Horned Frogs if they beat Nevada tomorrow night.

There’s no common opponent between Wisconsin and Boise State, but the Badgers did play Fresno State in 2008 and 2009, winning by three points both times, one of those in overtime. The Broncos, meanwhile, beat the Bulldogs by 51 points last Friday night.

“This Boise State team is the real deal. ... I hope they can make it to the big dance because they deserve it in my mind,” Fresno State coach Pat Hill said last Friday night. “I feel I can say that. We've played against some pretty darn good football teams in my time. Never have we been manhandled like that.”

The matchup might be a nightmare for the Badgers. The Broncos might just make the Badgers look like they’re running in quicksand, a speed team dominating a plodding one. Yet Wisconsin manhandled a supposedly faster Miami team in last year’s Champs Sports Bowl, and the Badgers overpowered a quicker Ohio State team on a Saturday night in October.

It’s possible that should they meet, the Badgers might just be able to overwhelm Boise State - possible.

None of that matters right now. It’s a discussion for another day. What does matter is how fascinating it is to watch the imposition of will, the statement made by a team running over and through its opponent even when the opponent knows exactly what’s coming.

Nothing is more impressive.

What We Learned

There was great temptation to anoint Nebraska the best of the Big 12 this year and a national championship contender. It’s human nature to want the teams that were great over the course of decades to return to their lofty - and seemingly rightful - perch, to root against them when they get there but nevertheless want them there.

After the Cornhuskers nearly beat Texas in last year’s conference championship game and wiped the field with Arizona in the Holiday Bowl, then had what looked like a favorable schedule this season, it seemed set up for Nebraska to make a run at perfection.

Instead, the Cornhuskers have shown that anyone expecting a return to more than simply conference contention this year jumped the gun.

First, there was what is now just a horrendous loss to Texas at home in October. Back then, because the Longhorns represent a program we’ve come to know as consistently brilliant, the 20-13 defeat was explainable because, well, it was Texas. But the Longhorns have gone on to lose four of five games since then, and are godawful - by Texas standards - this year.

Still, teams slip, even very good and great ones - think USC in recent years under Pete Carroll - and wind up with one loss at the end of the year. But then came Saturday night at Texas A&M when Nebraska not only lost again, but put up just six points on a defense ranked 51st in the nation.

On top of that, there was the decidedly unprofessional behavior of coach Bo Pelini throughout. He may be absolutely right that the Cornhuskers got screwed by the officials - a 16-2 discrepancy in favor of the Aggies supports his claim - but at a certain point rage directed at the officials comes off as childish, and Pelini went well beyond that point.

His own university even was embarrassed by his behavior.

“When you get animated, you don’t approach it the right way,” Pelini said on Tuesday as he apologized for his behavior. “Sometimes you do yourself a disservice. I might have done that the other night. I’m sorry about it.”

Nebraska is a good football team. With Pelini - a good coach, even if he does perhaps have some issues to work out with a therapist - now in his third year the Cornhuskers have shown they’re on their way toward regaining the perch they lost at the end of Frank Solich’s run and throughout the debacle that was Bill Callahan’s era.

If they don’t contend immediately for the Big Ten title when they join the conference next year, it won’t be long before they do.

Game of the Week

Saturday is supposed to be the day college football rules the landscape, and this week is no exception with great rivalries like The Game - the fabled rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State - the battle for supremacy in The Sunshine State between Florida and Florida State, and Bedlam - Oklahoma and Oklahoma State’s annual war - all that day and night.

But Friday is when three games with national championship implications take place, a spectacular day when one massive game will bleed into another and then into another.

First, there’s the Iron Bowl with No. 2 Auburn at No. 11 Alabama in a rivalry every bit as nasty as The Game. Then top-ranked Oregon hosts 21st-ranked Arizona. And finally, long after dark, No. 4 Boise State plays at 19th-ranked Nevada.

No game Auburn has played to date has posed the problem playing at Alabama will. For starters, it’s a road game in the SEC, but throw in that the Tide are the defending national champions, have the best defense the Tigers have seen and the second-best offense, and Auburn is staring at its toughest game of the season. Then there’s the fact that with a second national title no longer possible, there’s nothing that could make Alabama happier than ruining Auburn’s shot at the championship.

“Big picture or no big picture,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said of the Iron Bowl, “this game is extremely important to us as coaches, definitely our players and certainly our fans.”

Oregon’s task isn’t nearly as difficult as Auburn’s, but the reward is the same. If the Ducks beat Arizona, they’re one win away from securing a berth in the BCS Championship game. And while the task may not be as difficult, it’s still a tough one.

The Wildcats are 7-3, have the 10th-best passing attack in the country and rank 12th in scoring defense. Beyond Stanford, they represent Oregon’s toughest opponent to date.

Finally, Boise State is playing to become the team that moves up to the title game if either Auburn or Oregon slips - and by the time they kick off at 10:15 p.m. in the East it’s possible one of those teams above the Broncos may have already lost.

They’re also playing to impress. Their win over Virginia Tech again looks good now that the Hokies have won nine straight games, and a big win over what represents their most difficult road test would surely push them past No. 3 TCU in the BCS Standings.

At the very least, should they not get a chance at the national championship, as long as they jump the Horned Frogs they’d be guaranteed a BCS bowl.

Friday, simply, has a triple-header that is all about who winds up No. 1.

If I Had a Ballot ...

1. Oregon (10-0): The Ducks have had two weeks to stew over their worst performance of the season.

2. Auburn (11-0): Don’t be surprised if the Iron Bowl is Auburn’s undoing.

3. Boise State (10-0): The Broncos owe a debt of gratitude to Virginia Tech for recovering its season.

4. Stanford (10-1): Jim Harbaugh has done a remarkable job with the Cardinal.

5. LSU (10-1): The Tigers may be the greatest escape artists since Houdini.

6. TCU (11-0): The euphoria over beating Utah feels like a long time ago.

7. Wisconsin (10-1): The Badgers could be smelling roses late Saturday afternoon.

8. Ohio State (10-1): The Buckeyes go for seven straight over their hated rivals.

9. Michigan State (10-1): The Spartans need a Michigan win, of all things, to reach the Rose Bowl.

10. Oklahoma State (10-1): The Cowboys have often ruined Oklahoma’s season, but now the roles could be reversed.

Contact Eric Avidon at 508-626-3809 or eavidon@cnc.com.

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